By Joe Connolly, Chief Advancement and Enrollment Officer
A new tree has sprouted on the Hillbrook campus and its roots go to the core of who we are and what we believe in. It is the Hillbrook Recognition Tree and it’s helping to kick off the Community Phase of “Be Your Best, The Campaign for Hillbrook”. The Recognition Tree is easy to spot, located on the side of the Persimmon Building facing the amphitheater, (which was in fact, one of the campus improvements in this multi-year campaign). The Recognition Tree includes leaves with the names of all the community members who have given to the Campaign, and it’s foliage will continue to grow as more people participate in the campaign.
The tree not only looks great and is a fun way to recognize the community spirit of our campaign, but it’s very existence is emblematic of how Hillbrook works, or the Hillbrook Way. That’s because the tree was the collaborative vision of four 7th grade girls – Sam, Tess, Nina and Freya. The girls worked with me and 3rd-8th grade art teacher Ken Hay to design, prototype, and create this temporary recognition piece using the woodshop and laser printer at Hillbrook.
It began with a question at a Board of Trustees Advancement Committee meeting. How might we temporarily recognize members of the community who have given to the campaign until the Hillbrook Hub is built and we can create a permanent recognition? I approached Ken and we had a brief discussion about what we were hoping to accomplish. A few days later, the four seventh grade girls tracked me down during lunch, asked me a few more questions about the project, and that’s when the Recognition Tree idea took root!
The girls started by collaborating with each other to create a prototype tree, about the size of a large book, as well as prototype leaves of different sizes. They also experimented with different kinds of materials for the tree. Along the way, they showed me their work, asked for feedback and committed to seeing the project through to completion. And work they did: both during free time at school and after school, always collaborating with Ken. When it came time to build the full size tree, the girls used math and science skills to figure out how to turn their small prototype into the full size tree that exists today. Part of the process also included giving a presentation to the Board of Trustees Advancement Committee about their work.
So this tree, created by students to honor our generous community is pretty special. Unlike most trees that give shade, this tree instead shines a light on the collaborative, creative, and student-centered community that is Hillbrook. Like every student at Hillbrook, each leaf adds to the beauty of our tree. It represents the Hillbrook Way of doing things and I know over the coming weeks we will all enjoy watching it grow.